Trump campaign refutes claims of firearm purchase

"Trump just bought a Glock after being arrested 4 times by radical left," says a September 27, 2023 post from an Instagram page that describes itself as "your # 1 source for Republican news."

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Screenshot of an Instagram post taken October 3, 2023

The claims circulated on social media among both opponents and supporters of the former president.

Trump is leading the polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite opting out of the first two primary debates and facing 91 charges in four criminal cases. He appeared in a New York court on October 2 to face separate civil fraud charges, which he said were a "scam" and a "witch hunt."

The week prior, Trump traveled to the state of South Carolina, visiting a gun shop where he posed with a Glock handgun customized with his portrait and the words "Trump 45."

"I want to buy one," he said during the visit to Palmetto State Armory in Summerville.

But there is no evidence Trump actually did. Posts claiming otherwise stem from a now-deleted post from Trump campaign spokesman Steve Cheung on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"President Trump purchases a @GLOCKInc in South Carolina!" Cheung said.

The campaign later issued a statement saying: "President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one" (archived here).

AFP contacted Palmetto State Armory for more information. The store declined to comment, but The New York Times reported a salesperson confirmed Trump did not purchase a firearm during his visit (archived here).

AFP contacted Cheung for additional comment, but a response was not forthcoming.

'Separate federal crime'

US law prohibits the sale of firearms to people under felony indictment and forbids them from transporting such weapons across state lines (archived here).

Federal prosecutors have urged the US District Court in Washington to impose a gag order on Trump following comments they say could interfere with the integrity of the judicial process. The former president is scheduled to appear in the US capital on March 4, 2024 to face charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Molly Gaston, one of the prosecutors leading the case, said in a document released September 29 that during his visit to the South Carolina gun store, Trump "either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters' mistaken belief that he did so."

She added: "It would be a separate federal crime, and thus a violation of the defendant's conditions of release, for him to purchase a gun while this felony indictment is pending" (archived here).

AFP has debunked other claims about the former president here.